Friday came. Reika searched for Kyoko, but he didn't come to school. When others asked, she would say "He's probably sick, or maybe he overslept". But Reika knew the truth. He was getting ready to kill his father.

The day passed slower than ever. Reika's fear rose with every tick of the second hand. When the final bell rang, she ran straight to Kyoko's house.

Her phone rang in her pocket, and she answered it quickly.

"This is it, Reika," came Kyoko's voice on the phone. "He'll be home in an hour."

"Kyoko don't!" Reika yelled as she ran.

"Did you see the shinigami?"

"Yes I saw it. Kyoko please!"

"Then you know this thing is real." Kyoko's voice was quiet, calm.

Reika arrived at his door and knocked. His mom was at work, so Kyoko opened the door. His face was blank.

He led her to his room and showed her the notebook. "I already wrote it in. Have a look."

Reika's hands were shaking as she took the Death Note and read the page in question aloud.

"Shiro Chingashi. Eight thirty-nine pm. Accidental death. Hits his head on an end table after tripping over his own feet. Dies instantly."

She went quiet, then handed the book back to him.

"I had another idea, Reika," Kyoko said. "What if I carried on with Kira's legacy? I could be a better Kira. And I wouldn't get caught. I could rule this world, be its king!"

Reika stared with wide eyes as Kyoko said this. Doesn't he realize what he's doing?

"You think you can be the ruler?" said a smooth voice from behind Reika. She turned to find Moru standing there. He was staring at Kyoko with blank eyes.

"Yes," Kyoko told the shinigami confidently. "And you'll be there to stand by my side loyally."

"Kyoko, you need to stop. This is corrupting your mind," Reika begged.

Kyoko laughed at her. "Corrupting? No, Reika. It's opening my mind to the possibilities. I can do anything I want with this book. And nobody can tell me I can't. Not even you, Reika."

Reika blinked. Kyoko was already starting to lose his mind. This thing was destroying him too soon.

"Kyoko, give me the book," Reika said through clenched teeth.

"So you can give it back to Moru? No way!" he snapped.

Reika lunged at him, trying to take the book away from him. She pulled and struggled and twisted, but he had a tight grip on it.

"Reika! Let go! Stop it now!" he cried, struggling with her before shoving her back. She stumbled and fell, her head snapping against the ground painfully. She cried out, and tears stung her vision.

Kyoko stared for a second, then his face softened and he bent down to help her up. She didn't look at him as she got up shakily.

"Reika...I...I'm sorry," he said gently. "I didn't...didn't mean to hurt you. Are you okay?"

She didn't respond.

"Reika, I told you not to stop me. I'm doing this whether you like it or not."

Reika felt the tears slide down her cheeks. She started to cry.

Kyoko reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She swatted it away.

"Fine! If you want to put your life in danger, do it! But leave me out of it!"

And with that, Reika stormed out of Kyoko's house, crying and shaking in fear.

Hours later, Kyoko left her a voicemail, saying once again that he was sorry and asking her to please come see him. She ignored it.

She ignored him for days.

But Kyoko eventually accepted it and moved on. He went through with his plans to kill the criminals on Death Row a few days after his father's funeral. Reika read in the papers that criminals had begun dying mere minutes before their executions. The articles claimed that "Kira had returned and was delivering judgment once again". Reika's gut wrenched. Kyoko was being consumed by the Death Note. And she couldn't do anything to stop him.

She got home Thursday night and saw Moru waiting in her bedroom for her. She sighed and locked her bedroom door.

"Kyoko Chingashi isn't listening to anything I say," Moru said quietly.

"He won't listen to me either," she hissed back at him.

"I am aware of this. You must get the notebook out of his possession. Before it is too late."

What Reika Sashimaru didn't know was that it already was too late for poor Kyoko. The deaths of all these execution victims had caught the attention of a young detective.

A young boy sat in front of the computer screen, watching a news report of two new criminals that had died mere moments ago. One had died of a heart attack, the other had a stroke. And before then, there had been other deaths of similar nature. One had choked himself with his own spoon at his last meal. Another carved "God Forgive Me" on the wall with a shard of glass before slitting his wrists with that same shard.

All these deaths were suicides or natural causes or otherwise. None of them appeared to be unusual. And yet, something struck this boy. A name.

Kira.

The name was a thorn in his side. He already had to deal with two Kiras in his lifetime. He never dreamed that a third would show up.

Even so, the boy felt that this case would be open and shut. He just had to find out who possessed the cursed notebook and get the person into custody as quickly as possible.

He examined the times of death while starting to build a tower of dice on the floor. They were spread throughout the day, so it was hard to give this Kira a time frame. It's not like the first one either. This one is careless and kills their victims in large numbers at one time or one every two minutes and seventeen seconds. He sometimes doesn't even stop to sleep.

He had no doubt that he was once again dealing with a Death Note. The boy sighed. "But who?" he asked aloud as he stacked the last dice onto the top of his tower. It wobbled a little bit, then remained upright.

The door behind him opened, and an agent stepped in. "Near, are we taking this case?" he asked.

The boy looked up at the agent. "Yes, but you don't have to worry about dying yet. At the moment, I'm only trying to get a proper profile on this new Kira. He won't know I'm trailing him just yet."

He nodded, and Near went back to examining the files and computer screens. He played with a piece of his white hair, while still keeping his gray eyes locked on the screens, examining every last detail.

Kyoko called Reika for the fiftieth time this week. She picked her phone up and pressed the green answer key. "Yes?" she asked.

"Still don't want to kill anyone?" he asked. "Because I have a proposition to make."

"What?"

"Become my queen."

Reika raised a brow. "Become your what?"

"My queen. If you do, I'll destroy anyone that tries to harm you. Anyone that stands in your way, anyone that annoys you. All of them, gone in a flash."

Reika was stunned. "Kyoko, you're talking nonsense. You need to get rid of that book now!"

"Reika, I'm serious. We could be happy together. I've been waiting for the right time to ask you out, but I've been afraid to say something. Now, we can be together, if you want."

Reika knew he'd been wanting to tell her something for a long time, but she didn't think he was in love with her. "Sucks to be naïve," said a little voice in her head.

"Kyoko..."

"Please, Reika. I only want to make you happy. I can prove it, you know."

"Prove what?"

"Prove that I can be good for you."

Reika's stomach rolled, and she wanted to throw up. "Kyoko, stop it."

"Please, just let me-"

"No. Stop it. This has gone on too long. Are you even listening to yourself? You're going crazy!"

There was a knock at the door, and Kyoko hung up. It was a Saturday, so her mom was home, but her dad went out to work. She sighed and laid back on her bed. She could hear her mother speaking with the person at the door, then she called her name. Reika stood and walked down the stairs to find Kyoko at the door.

"Can we talk?" he asked. "I'd like to go walk to the park with you."

She looked at her mom and saw her nod, then turned back to Kyoko and shrugged. "I have a few minutes," she said.

They walked in silence for a while, then Kyoko spoke up.

"Reika, I meant what I said. I do like you, and I want to make you happy."

"Then give up the book," she said, not meeting his eyes.

"I can't do that," he told her. "If I did that, this world will continue to be plagued with evil."

"That's the way life is, Kyoko."

"But don't you want to change it, Reika? You and me together, we could make this world better."

Reika went quiet.

"Reika." Kyoko stopped and lifted her chin with his hand. Reika saw that he was smiling softly, warmly. It made her forget about the notebook for just a second.

Then he leaned in and kissed her gently. She was stunned at first, but then she relaxed and just stood there, her body slowly starting to sag into him. He pulled away before she could fall, and she stared into his green eyes, which never looked so beautiful until that moment.

"Please, Reika. I want to be with you," he said softly. His voice was smooth, gentle.

She wanted to be with him too. Just not under these circumstances. She didn't want to help him kill everyone.

She stepped back and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kyoko. I won't help you in this. I won't get involved."

"You already are involved. Moru has seen you, so you are involved. There's no getting out of this now."

"I need to go." Reika started to walk away, but Kyoko grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. She gasped as she was suddenly held tight in his arms, his face so close to hers.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" he asked, brushing a strand of her long brown hair out of her eyes. "Why can't you just accept it? Accept me?"

Reika didn't respond. She tried to squirm out of his arms, but he held her tighter.

"At least think it over, okay?" he asked again, his lips mere centimeters from hers. She felt her face go deep red. She knew she must be blushing madly. Her heartbeat rose, her breathing quickened, her stomach swirled.

Kyoko let her go, and she immediately started walking away. The last two minutes spun in her mind like a video on repeat. She passed a man on the street that almost bumped into her.

She kept her eyes locked on the ground as she walked, so she didn't notice a group of men stop her until one grabbed her. They were older, in their twenties, three of them. One had orange hair and green eyes, and a scar on his cheek. Another was blond with blue eyes, and he had a lip piercing. The last one had black hair and hazel eyes, and a tattoo on his neck. She couldn't make it out because the sun was starting to set.

"Well, look what we have here," the orange haired man said, gripping her arm tight. She tried to pull it away, but he yanked her into his grip. Reika could smell his breath. A whiff of alcohol made her gag.

"Ain't you a pretty one?" said the tattooed man.

"We takin' her, Hikano?" asked the blond.

"Yes," Hikano whispered into her ear. Reika whimpered.

The other men laughed as Hikano dragged her into an empty building.

"Help!" she screamed. "Someone help me!"

Hikano snarled. "Kanime, gag her," he yelled to the man with the tattoo.

Kanime took his scarf off and tied it over her mouth. Now Reika's cried were only muffled screams. She tasted and smelled cigarette smoke on it.

"Hey!" said a voice from behind them. The men turned, and Reika saw Kyoko standing there. She tried to tell him to run, then saw his eyes and stopped. They were glowing red.

Kanime laughed. "Yo Aoba, get a load of this guy. Is he cosplaying?"

Aoba, the man with the piercing, stepped forward and looked at Kyoko. "Hey, get the hell outta here, kid."

"Let her go."

"We don't take orders from people like you."

Kyoko pulled his wallet out and took out three photographs. Each of the men were in these photos. "Hikano Kekishi, Kanime Tadomo, and Aoba Sakura. You three are wanted sex offenders. I've been trying to find the right time to kill you. And now, you're going to die."

The men were silent for a moment, then Hikano threw Reika onto he ground and stepped forward. Reika watched as Kyoko took out a pen and wrote something on the back of the photos. Hikano ran at Kyoko, and threw a punch. It hit Kyoko in the stomach nust as he finished writing. He went down, wheezing.

Reika tore off her gag and screamed, "KYOKO!"

Hikano laughed and kicked Kyoko's ribs. He grunted and curled up, trying to protect himself.

"This is what you get, ya little punk!" Hikano laughed harder as he continued to kick him. Then he stopped when he heard Kanime and Aoba crying out. They fell to the ground and coughed blood. They writhed and screamed and coughed, then eventually went still. Hikano stared with wide eyes at his now dead friends.

Kyoko stood up and handed Hikano a switchblade from his pocket. "You wanna kill me?" Kyoko wheezed. "Then do it. Finish the job."

Hikano stared at Kyoko, whose eyes had returned to normal. He spread his arms, waiting for Hikano to make a move.

Hikano stared and took a step back. Then he opened the knife and stabbed himself in the chest. Then he fell, the knife still stuck in his chest as he slowly bled to death.

"Are you okay, Reika?" Kyoko asked, helping her to her feet.

She pushed him away. "You made the deal?" she demanded.

He nodded. "Now they won't be abusing anyone ever again. Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head. "Stay away from me."

And with that, Reika turned and ran off.

Kyoko sighed. Why did she have to oppose him? He wouldn't kill her, never will. But it looked as though he'd have to try harder to get through her stubbornness.

He walked home, Moru flying above him.

"That was dangerous," Moru said.

"I know."

"What about Reika Sashimaru?"

"Leave my queen to me," Kyoko grinned. "Soon she'll see things my way."